News

MPAs and Fishing – The Moment of Truth

3 October 2025

Will our new ministers seize the opportunity to reset relations with fishermen, or will it be even more bad news for our coastal communities?

NFFO data gathering to respond to MPA Gear Ban

7 August 2025

On 9 June 2025, DEFRA and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) launched a 12-week online consultation proposing new byelaws to prohibit bottom-trawling and, in some cases, static gears (like traps and nets) in an additional 30,000 km² of English waters. This would expand total bottom-trawling restrictions to about 48,000 km². The proposed byelaws are tailored to each Marine Protected Area’s (MPA) specific habitat sensitivities (e.g., sandbanks, gravel beds, muds) and species protection needs.

Spatial Squeeze Working Group: joint statement – next steps

23 July 2025

Where Will Our Fishers Still Be Allowed to Fish? A Joint Statement from the Belgian, Dutch, French, and UK Fishing Sectors on Stage 3 MPAs

New MPAs Will Compensate for Damage from Offshore Wind – and Fishing is in the Firing Line Again.

29 January 2025

A Ministerial Statement by Emma Hardy MP, Minister for Water and Flooding, has set out the Government’s plans to expand the UK’s MPA network, to make up for environmental damage caused by offshore wind farms.

Spatial Squeeze Report: Parliamentary Launch

18 October 2022

Committee Room 9 in the Palace of Westminster recently saw the parliamentary launch of the ABPmer report, commissioned by the NFFO and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, on the looming displacement crisis for fishing.

Highly Protected Marine Areas: NFFO Response

3 October 2022

Consultation on Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) - Defra

Five highly protected marine areas to be set up in English waters

21 June 2022

Leaked information regarding the establishment of five highly protected marine areas has now appeared in the press (below). The NFFO has expressed concern, not so much about the choice of individual sites, which will now be subject to consultation, but the exclusion of fishing representative organisations from the whole process of establishing Highly Protected Marine Areas. Whilst the government has worked with environmental NGOs, there has been no parallel engagement with the fishing industry - the sector that is likely to be the most impacted by HPMAs.

High Profile Science Debunked: Trawling Carbon Impacts and MPA Benefits for Fisheries Food Production

10 December 2021

Major findings from two high profile scientific papers published in 2020 and 2021 on marine protected areas, fisheries food production and trawling carbon emissions generated by sediment disturbance have been comprehensively debunked.

HPMA Selection Process Rigged to Harm Fishing Communities

19 July 2021

The government’s process to select Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) needs a rethink. It is deliberately relegating human use issues to a second tier to be considered only once sites have been identified exclusively based on a set of ecological criteria. Instead, it should prioritise the search for sites that fulfil ecological criteria in areas where there are synergies with existing human uses of the marine environment.

40 Marine Protected Areas in 3 Years

16 March 2021

One per month as Government adopts Blitzkrieg approach to management measures.

Sledgehammer to Fishing in MPAs

1 February 2021

In a shocking development, the Marine Management Organisation has announced that it intends to ban all forms of towed bottom gears in the Dogger Bank SAC and the majority of three other offshore MPAs. The knock-on effects of this brutal approach will not stay confined to MPAs as fishing activity is displaced from its customary areas. The decision has been taken with zero discussion with those affected.

Industry Unites to Oppose Benyon Report

24 July 2020

Comments from across the industry spectrum emphasised that there is much in the report to concern the fishing industry, both […]

Government Panel Eyes No Fishing Zones Despite Existing World-Beating UK Marine Protected Area Network

8 June 2020

The government-sponsored Benyon Review, and its all-out advocacy for banning fishing in a new set of areas referred to as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), comes as a hammer blow for fishing communities having to cope with the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic and the uncertainties of the Brexit negotiations. This is despite Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) already comprising 40% of the total area of English waters, with a swathe of 41 sites being designated only last year.

Developing a participatory approach to the management of fishing activity in UK offshore Marine Protected Areas

14 May 2020

Successfully involving the fishing sector and stakeholders in decision-making over the management of fisheries in marine protected areas (MPAs) is important to their overall effectiveness and sustainable management of our seas. The results of a new project including new tools and approaches to use when establishing, evaluating and adapting fisheries management measures in MPAs aims to help achieve just that.

Third Tranche of Marine Conservation Zones

31 May 2019

An evidence-based approach and good location choice continues to be critical to the success of marine conservation, as the government announces the designation of a further 41 Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in English waters.

Industry Should Not Under-estimate new MPA Threat: NFFO

24 April 2018

The fishing industry should not underestimate the threat from a new celebrity-led threat to fast-track marine protected areas, devoid of evidence, says the NFFO.

Tranche 3 MCZs Must Avoid “Gold Plating” at the Expense of Livelihoods

13 December 2016

The NFFO is warning that the completion of the Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) network in English and Northern Irish offshore waters must not become a book keeper's exercise that slavishly gold plates the network at the expense of livelihoods. This follows a new search for more MCZs by government nature conservation advisers.

New research to aid sustainable fisheries management in Marine Protected Areas

20 January 2016

Scientists now have a better understanding of the level of fishing activity that can be carried out within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and still remain compatible with conservation objectives thanks to new research.